The Man and the Mare
by Rose Jennison
Summary: Nightmare Moon didn't just sit around after Celestia banished her. Filled with a thirst for vengeance, she became determined to break out of her prison. She alters a powerful spell and casts it, hoping it will send her back to Equestria, but it backfires. She's still on the moon, but it's not HER moon. Mare in the Moon, meet the Man in the Moon.
1. Chapter 1

Nightmare Moon would always remember her first hours in her new prison.

She'd woken up slowly. Pain throbbed from every part of her body, and she was reluctant to bring herself to consciousness. The first thing she took in was the ground in front of her. The land was light gray and nearly featureless; the only variation was a few craters and a slight rise and fall to the land in the distance. The sky at the horizon was blacker than any night she had every created. Where were the stars she loved so much? She raised her head and looked a bit higher, and all thought was struck from her mind.

A brightly colored orb glowed in the sky. Most of it was green, but she could see blue around the edges, and white tendrils swirled across its surface. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. It was like seeing the moon for the first time. For several minutes the only thing she could do was stare.

But then thought slowly started to creep back in. She wondered what the orb was, why the land was so gray, and, again, where the stars were.

It all came rushing back to her. For one brief shining moment she thought she had defeated her sister and brought eternal night, like she had been dreaming of for so long. Finally, she would be recognized, she would be looked up to, she would be admired. The citizens would have no choice, with constant night they would **have** to find a love for their Moon Princess and her creation.

Then her sister rose up from the ruined treasure room with a new weapon. Luna had struck out, hoping to send Celestia crashing back to the ground. But the magic of the new weapon was stronger than her own. It had overpowered her, and sent her into a world of pain. It had sent her here.

That orb was Equestria, this was the moon, that weapon had been the Elements of Harmony.

Her sister had banished her.

With an enraged howl Nightmare Moon sent a burst of magic into air, and it exploded in the black void of space. She created more bursts and sent them in every direction. New craters were blasted into the rock and the air crackled with blue magical energy.

How dare Celestia! **HOW DARE SHE!** Who was _she_ to banish Nightmare Moon?! How dare her wretched sister use the Elements on her, as if she were no better than that fool Discord! SHE WAS NOT THE LESSER LIGHT!

She went on that way for over an hour, her rage overpowering the pain her body felt. Until, eventually, her anger could burn no more. When her energy was spent the pain came crashing back down on her. She collapsed on the ground with a clank of armor, and her head fell into a perfect position for viewing the orb that was Equestria. She didn't find it nearly as lovely now. It was just like her sister, pretty to the eye but offering no real substance or comfort in her darkness.

From that moment on, exacting revenge on her sister and those who worshiped the light consumed her every thought. A banishment of this kind lasted a minimum of one thousand years, but she refused to wait that long. She would find a way back to her home, her rightful place. She would surprise Celestia, and show her sister that she could not dismiss Nightmare Moon like she did Princess Luna.

As her body healed she schemed, she would need a plan to defeat her sister. But above all she experimented. There was no spell for reversing a banishment to the moon, and nopony had ever created new magic. But Nightmare Moon was determined. If she couldn't find a way to create new magic then she would alter an existing spell. She would find a way.

For years she planned and practiced, and now it was finally time.

She had experimented with combining her alicorn magic with the dark magic that Sombra had been so fond of, and had built upon the most advanced teleportation spell she knew.

She stood tall and proud on the moon's surface, her eyes fixated on Equestria. Soon she would be back, and she would see the look of pure shock on Celestia's face. She felt in her bones that this spell had the power to send her to another world. This would work, it had to work. She refused to be subjected to the void any longer.

Nightmare Moon called upon every bit of magic power that resided in her. Her eyes glowed pure white. Blue light shown forth from her horn, interspersed with veins of black and bubbles of violet. The light grew brighter and brighter, until it nearly rivaled the sun's intensity. It surrounded her completely, the dark magic lancing through the sphere like lightning. Pain built within her head and pulsed behind her eyes, but she had to keep going. It was the only way she would escape. After another few moments she released the spell with a cry of pain.

And she immediately felt that something was wrong.

She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but some sense in the very back of her mind told her the spell had not worked as she had intended. She didn't feel the traversing of distance as she had expected. It was like she was traveling across _something_, not space, not time, something...else.

The magic sphere collapsed in on itself. She suddenly felt as if she were lost in the void of space. She had no sense of place or direction. Terror and confusion clawed at her mind, and it was all too much. As her magic collapsed so did she. Her vision grew fuzzy, and all she could see was the ground inches from her muzzle.

_'It's not gray anymore.'_

That's all she had time to think before everything faded to black.


	2. Kindness

_Disclaimer_

_I own nothing except the plot._

* * *

Kindness

It was like being banished all over again. Pain emanated from every muscle in her body, and she didn't want to wake up. So for quite a while she didn't, not fully anyway. The pain kept her subdued, but she slowly became conscious of something outside of it.

The first sensation to come back was touch. Whatever she was lying on was soft, which helped her throbbing muscles. Every so often she felt something press against her skin, most often something cool and damp against her face. It should have hurt, but the touch was so gentle that she only felt a slight twinge of pain at most.

Next she is aware of sounds. At first her mind is still too dazed to capture them, and they are nothing more than half-formed whispers to her ears. But with time the whispers form into words, and soon she is able to pick out a distinct voice. The voice is as gentle as the touches, and often occurs at the same time. It soothes her when she aches, offers encouragement, and Nightmare Moon has the distinct feeling that another voice used to do the same for her long ago. It would be too much work to remember who it was though. When the voice is absent she hears other things, such as the clank of metal or a flutter of wings, but the voice is always the most prominent.

Taste and smell come so gradually she is hardly notices them. A trickle of sweet water enters her mouth, and she swallows it down automatically. This earns more encouraging platitudes from the voice. The place she is in smells clean. Not the sort of clean that comes from being meticulously scrubbed and sanitized, but the pure smell of a place well cared for.

All of these senses call to her hazy mind, prompting it to find out what they all mean. She opens her eyes slowly, blinking when she detects light. Thankfully, it is dim and her eyes adjust quickly.

She is lying in a nest of cream colored pillows with gold accents. They have been carefully placed to support every part of her body, and continue to do so even as she shifts and raises her head. It's not a particularly big room, but a handful of ponies could be in it and not be uncomfortable. The walls and floor are light blue, and glitter slightly in the dim lighting. There are designs etched into the walls as well; they seem to be based off the phases of the moon.

But what's most interesting is what lies right in front of her. There is no door. In fact, there is no wall. The room is open and seems to lead directly outside. The ground she can see in the distance is light purple with just a hint of gray mixed in. Spires of the same color jut up from it, with ridges connecting them and craters at their base.

_'Where in Equestria am I?'_ Nightmare Moon wonders. She remembered her last wakeful moments now, and how she had felt something had gone wrong. It must have worked on some level though. This clearly wasn't her moon, so she must be on the planet somewhere.

Well, she wasn't going to get an answer by just sitting around here.

Bracing herself, Nightmare Moon unfolds her large black wings. There is some pain, but not the kind felt from an injury. Her wings are stiff, like she's been still for too long. She flexes her wings, up and down, in and out; trying to work the soreness out of them. It helps, but only a little. She won't be flying for a while yet.

When she tries standing up she stumbles around like a new born foal; her legs are just as stiff as her wings. She walks around the room a bit, trying to get herself reacquainted with moving. Two times around the room and she is already feeling tired. Trying to use her magic is out of the question. She is practically powerless right now, and it grates on her ego. She is Nightmare Moon, the mare who nearly usurped the wondrous Princess Celestia (and would someday succeed in doing so)! She was the darkness that would concur the light, and an uncooperative body wasn't going to stop her! She was going to work herself back to full strength and then she was going straight to Canterlot to-

"Oh, you're awake. Wonderful!"

The exclamation brought Nightmare Moon out of her internal rant. It was the voice, the one that comforted and soothed her while she was still in limbo, and it was coming from the room's entrance. She turns toward the voice, and meets the eyes of the strangest creature she has ever seen.

Considering the fact that she has personally met Discord, that's saying a lot.

She assumes it is a 'he', since the voice has always sounded male to her. Similar to Discord, the being stands on two legs instead of four. That's where the similarity ends though. The overall impression she gets is: round. He has a round body, a round head, and round facial features. He wears a shirt, vest, and billowy pants, all bright gold in color. He has a coat on over it all, which is also gold but of a darker shade. His skin is light pinkish tan, and he has just a wisp of a mane. The hair goes straight up and curves at the end like a question mark.

Her first is to intimidate the creature, and demand to know everything about where she is and what he's been doing to her.

But she can't.

She tells herself that it is only wise to hold back until she understands her situation better, but there is more to it than that. The being's face is completely foreign to her, yet there is an inexplicable kindness to it. That face holds such benevolence that it disarms her, and leaves her confused and floundering over how to proceed. The memories of encouraging remarks only compound the feeling.

After a long moment, she settles on sating her curiosity.

"Who are you? What are you?" She asks, voice dark but without its usual volume or bite.

"I am a man from a time long past, the Golden Age. My full name is Tsar Lunar, though I prefer to be called Manny." He offers her a warm smile, and Nightmare Moon responds with a confused frown. She recalls from history lessons that 'tsar' is an old term for a ruler, an emperor. But what could this 'man' be a ruler of? She doesn't remember being taught about any time period called the 'Golden Age' either.

"May I have your name as well?" the man asks curiously.

Nightmare Moon hesitates. She doesn't know where in Equestria she is, but nearly everyone must have heard about what happened to 'Princess Luna'. If this creature doesn't recognize her as the same pony then she would prefer to keep it that way. It wouldn't do to have word of her escape spread.

Recalling a name she sometimes went by, but known only to her sister and niece, she responds.

"You may call me Selena. What am I doing here?"

"The lunar moths found you passed out not far from here. They brought you to me and I saw to healing you. You didn't have any visible wounds, so I just tended to your basic needs and let your body do most of the work. I was able to speed things along with a few basic healing spells, but you've been unconscious for many days."

Days...maybe weeks. No wonder she felt so stiff and tired. But why would he bother taking care of her for so long, especially with no guarantee of a reward? She shook her head slightly, best not to question his good will, else he might retract it. If he was truly altruistic, then he'd probably be more willing to help if she played up the 'helpless lost stranger' image too.

"Lunar moths? What are those?" she tried to make her voice light and innocent.

"Would you like to see?" He asked her with a grin, and gestures outside.

Outside. This was her chance to get her bearings and maybe figure out where she is, and how to escape if need be.

"Of course."

* * *

**A.N.**

**According to the "Elements of Harmony" book, which covers the first three season of MLP: FiM, Luna's name was originally going to be Selena. From that I developed a head canon that Selena is Luna's 'middle' name, and that only close family members like Celestia and Cadance know about it.**

**Additionally, the way I describe the surface of Manny's moon comes from the picture book "The Man in the Moon" by William Joyce. The book explains Manny's origins, and the art is quite beautiful.**


	3. Honesty

_Disclaimer_

_I own nothing except the plot and some character backgrounds._

* * *

A.N.

The lunar moths described in this chapter come from Joyce William's picture book, The Man in the Moon. Check out this link for an illustration: riseoftheguardians. wikia wiki/ The_Man_in_the_Moon_ %28book%29

* * *

Honesty

Manny lead her out of the room. Nightmare Moon looked around, and realized that they were actually quite high up. The room they just came out of was near the top of a tower, so it allowed a view of the distant purplish landscape. Then she looked down, and her eyes grew wide.

A town glimmered before them. The buildings were an array of creams, golds, and blues; and there were hardly any corners to be found on the smooth, curving structures. A small army of bronze metal men marched around performing chores, and what appeared to be numerous well-dressed mice scurried beneath their feet. It was by far the strangest settlement she had ever seen.

"Those are the lunar moths, quite a sight aren't they?" Manny said proudly, breaking Nightmare Moon out of her wonderment. She looked at the strange man, who was gesturing upward.

She turned her gaze up, and saw that several floors above them the tower ended and was topped by an enormous observatory. The bronze glint of the telescope was a great contrast to the dark sky behind it, and a fine complement to the creatures that fluttered around it.

Indeed, the lunar moths were quite a sight. Their main body was covered in bright blue fuzz. Their antennae flared out so that they almost looked like rabbit ears. They had huge, gorgeous wings that were a sparkling turquoise. Nightmare Moon watched one fly up past the others, past the telescope, and into the sky where-

No.

No that couldn't be right.

For the first time since awakening Nightmare Moon looked straight up, and saw a green and blue orb hanging in the sky.

That couldn't be right. She had traveled somewhere, she had felt that much! And this was most certainly not her moon, she hadn't seen this man thing or those bronze machines or the lunar moths her entire stay at her prison. There were stars here too, she suddenly realized, taking in the little pin pricks of light that were dotting the dark sky. This really wasn't her prison, yet the planet still hung in the sky.

But...something was off about that too. It was the same colors as before, but they were arranged wrong. The green was more broken up than it should be, and there was a lot more blue.

So, she wasn't on the planet, but she wasn't on her moon, but there wasn't anywhere else she could be and the planet was all wrong and what was going on?!

"Selena? Is something wrong?" Manny asked. Nightmare Moon whirled on him, all thoughts of acting a part gone.

"Where are we?! I demand to know immediately!"

"We're on the moon." He frowned a little, but otherwise remained calm.

"No. we. are. NOT! We can't be! I was on the moon before I awoke here, and this is not my moon!"

"Are you sure you weren't on the moon of another planet? One of Jupiter's perhaps?"

"I don't know what a Jupiter is. All I know is that the planet looked a lot like that!" the mare used one hoof to point at the orb in the sky.

"Do you recall how you got here?"

"I was trying to teleport back to the planet from the moon." she ground out.

"So you were trying to transport yourself to another world?"

"Yes!" she snapped, annoyed at him restating what she'd already said when she wanted answers.

"Are you sure that the spell didn't branch out a little further than expected?"

"Answer my question! Where are we?!" Nightmare Moon stomped her hoof in anger, and strongly wished her magic reserves weren't depleted. She settled for getting into the man's personal space. Manny didn't seem perturbed however, and only gave a small sigh. He steeped his fingers and took on a thoughtful look.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's possible you accomplished the spell, but not in the way you intended. Perhaps you traversed a whole universe instead of just one world."

Nightmare Moon just stared at him for a minute.

"You...you can't be serious. Are you implying that I've crossed over into a different reality?"

"It's possible. As I'm sure you know, magic is a tricky business. If you were doing an untested spell a number of things could have happened. My research has also lead me to believe that alternate universes do exist. You'd be surprised how common it is for someone to get hurled into one when a magic experiment goes wrong."

Anger simmered within Nightmare Moon, but when she took in what Manny said it began to leech out of her. She could find no trace of joking or dishonesty within his features or voice, even accounting for the unfamiliar features. If what he said was true then...she might never see her home again.

Even if she regained her strength and tried the spell again there was no guarantee that she would be sent back to her own universe. She could cycle through endless alternate realities and never return to one the housed the Equestria she remembered. She would never take her rightful place in Canterlot, never again see her home's countryside bathed in moonlight, or raise her head to see familiar constellations.

She wasn't the queen of the night anymore, she wasn't even a spare princess. She wouldn't have to play up the lost stranger act; that's what she was. Her pride rebelled at such a thought, and rage surged through her. But it was washed away as the revelation took full hold of her. She lowered herself onto her haunches and bowed her head as despair and fatigue overtook her.

The spell was meant to bring about her triumphant return, and all it had done was isolate her further.

Nightmare Moon felt a warm hand cup her chin. It lifted her head, and she found herself looking into Manny's sympathetic eyes.

"Don't give up yet." he said with a smile "There may still be a way."

* * *

**A.N.**

Sorry if NM seemed OOC to anyone. The series itself doesn't give us a lot of Nightmare Moon beyond her initial transformation and trying to usurp Celestia. That doesn't make for a whole lot of character development, so I had a hard time deciding how she would react to this situation. In the end I figured that Nightmare Moon does have a lot of Luna in her, buried beneath all the rage and scheming. Luna herself was already feeling lost and abandoned due to being in her sister's shadow, so I thought that this situation would bring out the side of her that is still sad and vulnerable.


	4. Generosity

_Disclaimer_

_I own nothing except the plot and some character backgrounds._

* * *

Generosity

Manny lead his guest down into the depths of the tower, going down flights of glittering gold and silver stairs. The mare followed behind him numbly, still reeling from her realization on the balcony, and doing her best not to let her fatigue show. She'd displayed enough weakness for one day.

Thankfully, Manny's chatter was a good distraction.

"So what sort of world is it that you come from? Are all the sentient creatures equines like yourself?"

"Most, yes." Nightmare Moon answered, seeing no harm in it. "Though there were races unrelated to us that held a comparable level of intelligence, such as the dragons."

"Ah yes! Dragons! Can't have a good universe without a few dragons in it I say."

Considering the trouble Equestria had with dragons over the centuries, Nightmare Moon thought that to be debatable.

"And tell me about your magic, Selena." He pressed on. "How does magic work in your world? Who can wield it? What kind of magic did you use to get here?"

The mare hesitated this time, wondering if there was some way her host could use such information against her. After a minute of contemplation, she decided that describing the basics of Equestrian magic could do her little harm; especially since she couldn't even use her's right now. Besides, sating the man's curiosity might win her some favor with him; make him willing to host her longer.

So she did her best to simply explain how magic worked in Equestria. How only unicorn and alicorns had the ability to use pure magic, and most unicorns could only use basic magic, like telekinesis, or magic relating to their field of work. As an alicorn, her own range was not nearly as limited. She told him how all magic spells they knew today had been discovered centuries ago, and how no new magic spells had been written in almost as long a time.

Not until she tried anyway. Her explanation became sketchier then, leaving out how she'd incorporated dark magic. Most ponies weren't very keen on the subject, despite its proven uses. She had no idea how her host would react.

"I'm guessing that's how you got here. Quite a bold decision, I must say Selena. I find myself curious though, however did you end up stuck on your own moon?"

"Well...there was a bit of an accident. As I said before, alicorn magic is not limited in the same way most unicorn magic is. For that reason, my sister and I held very important positions. She raised the sun each day, and I raised the moon each night. One day my sister and I had a disagreement, one which escalated quite quickly. During the fight our magic got out of hand and I was blasted to the moon, and there was no spell to send me back. Eventually I became desperate enough to try creating a spell that would return me to my rightful place."

There, that wasn't entirely untrue. In fact, it was almost completely correct; though it was a bit understated.

"I see. I'm so sorry Selena, you must miss your sister terribly."

It was a good thing for Nightmare Moon that Manny was walking in front of her. She didn't have to hide her malicious smirk.

"But now that I've gotten an idea of what kind of world we're looking for, perhaps you have a hope of seeing her once again."

The mare raised an eyebrow at Manny, while he finally turned away from another set of stairs and toward a dark turquoise door with interlocking circles decorating it.

"And what makes you think that?" she asked, as Manny reached for the door handle.

"Because now," He said, flinging open the door. "we can narrow down our search."

Nightmare Moon's eyes widened as she stepped into the enormous room.

Books. There were books everywhere. Bookcases lined every wall and reached to the very top of the ceiling. There were books on fancy white chairs, and tan tables, and the cream colored floor. Some were being carried and put carefully away by large uniformed mice, while some lay open and unattended.

"Terribly sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting any company, and I do so much research myself that the mice can hardly keep up with me!"

The mouse who was passing closest made an exasperated squeak of agreement, then hurried on with her work.

Nightmare Moon tried to keep her wondering glances subtle as she followed Manny into the room. This place was nearly on par with the Canterlot Royal Library for sheer volume of text, but would she even be able to read any of this? It was already somewhat miraculous that she'd landed in a world where her host and herself spoke the same language, using the same alphabet might be a stretch of luck. When Manny reached the wall opposite the door she took a close look at the book bindings before her. To her great relief they were, mostly, understandable. Some had lettering she couldn't identify, but she also spotted familiar magic runes among the titles. One of the mice suddenly scurried across her view to replace a book, and a thought occurred to her.

"Are there no other creatures like yourself here?"

"Pardon?" Manny asked, looking up from his perusal of the book titles.

"I've seen mice elsewhere, as well as the moths and those metallic beings, yet I've not seen another creature like you here."

"That's because there aren't any." He said with a shrug. "Not here anyway, there's plenty down on the planet." A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Though, I suppose I'm not exactly like them either."

"Explain."

Manny raised an eyebrow at the brusque demand, but answered anyway.

"The most dominant sentient race on the planet calls itself 'human', and they look very similar to myself but aren't quite the same. I live much longer than them, and not many of them can wield magic like I can. They are similar enough however, and I have a kinship with them. At a young age I took it upon myself to watch over them."

_'Sounds familiar.'_ the mare thought.

"Ah! Here we are! Theories on alternate realities and parallel dimensions." Manny suddenly jumped back to the previous topic. He grabbed a few books off the shelf and brought them to the large table in the center of the room. Nightmare Moon followed him, and watched as he lay them out on the table. Eager to begin, the mare automatically called upon her magic to open the book and begin reading.

Pain spiked through her mind and she stumbled back, gasping.

Too late, she remembered that her magic was completely drained. Such things didn't like being forced.

"Selena! Are you alright?"

"Fine." she said tersely, head pounding more at her host's increase in volume. "Just tired."

"Oh how thoughtless of me! It's the first time you've been awake and here I am dragging you all around the tower. You stay here and rest while we get your room prepared." He rushed toward the door, making his curly-q mane bounce, but stopped just before exiting. His gold coat flared as he whirled back around. "Some of the mice will stay with you, don't hesitate to ask for their help." Then he resumed his rushing.

Nightmare Moon sighed, at least now it would be quieter until her throbbing went down. A low squeak brought her attention back to the table, where one of the mice was looking up at her expectantly. The mare raised an eyebrow at the small creature before saying:

"You now hold the position of 'page turner'."

* * *

By the time Manny bustled back into the room, the two had gotten a system up and running. Nightmare Moon would tap her hoof against the leg of the table whenever she was ready to move on, and the mouse would turn the page for her.

"I see you're hard at work already. Have you made much progress?" Manny asked his guest, giving the helpful mouse a thankful pat.

"A little. I must admit these ideas are very strange to me."

"I'm sure it will come to you with time, especially if you keep well rested. Come! I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Nightmare Moon followed the man out of the room without protest. She wanted to work on getting back as soon as possible, but she also knew the work would go faster once she had slept away the pounding behind her eyes.

Manny lead her up one flight of the stairs, but instead of continuing up he turned to go down the level's short corridor. He flung open the solitary door at the end of it and showed her inside. The mare straightened in surprise as she took in the room. It was at least as big as her old quarters in Equestria, possibly a bit bigger. The walls, floor, and ceiling were each a different shade of royal blue, giving the room a more subdued atmosphere compared to the brilliance of the other areas she had seen. The furnishings of the room seemed to follow the city's usual style though; light colors and swirling designs decorated the dressers, wardrobe, and twin nightstands on each side of the bed.

"Is the room to your liking?" Manny asked.

"Yes, quite." The mare said distractedly, though her companion didn't seem to notice.

"Wonderful! I'll give you some time to get settled in then. I really should be getting back to my work, so I might not be around when you're ready to resume your research. Don't let that stop you though! The library is always open, and there's usually a few mice running around in there. If you ever need a break you can explore the rest of the tower and city. You can come looking for me if you need me too; the mice and the bots always know where to find me. Sleep well!" He waved and bounced out, the door swinging shut behind him.

The mare's mind whirled in confusion. She started at the closed door for a minute before shuffling over to the large four poster bed in the middle of the room. She climbed atop the ivory sheets and beige comforter, settling down with her head on her hooves and her tail flowing around the cream colored posts.

It didn't make any sense.

She had no power here, physical or authoritative. Her magic would come back with time, but Manny had no way of knowing her usual power level.

So why was he giving her so much space and freedom?

She hadn't expected her room to be so grand, as she had no real way of repaying him. Nor had she expected to be allowed the freedom to go where she pleased without supervision. Was this creature already so trusting of her? How foolish of him.

The last thought held only a little contempt in it, as she was still preoccupied with the reasons for his generosity. Her head pounded even more as she tried to grasp at the meaning of it all, and in her frustration she decided it was a mystery that could wait until after she had slept.


End file.
